Prison records
Steven Brandenburg
Steven Brandenburg is the Grafton, Wisconsin pharmacist accused of tampering with COVID-19 vaccine doses, according to prison data.
Brandenburg was admitted to the Ozaukee County Jail, which is located in a suburb near Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on possible charges of criminal property damage and second-tier reckless security threats. He is described in prison records as a 46-year-old white male. No security deposit is stated. The date of retention is December 31, 2020.
Police described a bizarre scenario in which the pharmacist is accused of tampering with vaccines to make them unusable before giving them to humans.
Grafton officers say the person knew the tainted vaccinations would be useless and that people who received the vaccinations would think they were vaccinated against the virus when in fact they were not, according to a police press release .
Here is the booking form:
Ozaukee Co JailSteven Brandenburg
Here’s What You Need to Know:
1. Grafton police accuse the pharmacist of deliberately destroying 57 vials containing 570 doses of COVID-19 vaccine
Grafton PD
Grafton, Wisconsin, police wrote in a Dec. 31 press release that they had arrested a pharmacist for “deliberately destroying multiple vials of the COVID-19 vaccinations at Advocate Aurora Health Hospital in Grafton.”
The release says a former employee of Advocate Aurora Health Hospital in Grafton was arrested on Dec. 31 for “tampering with and causing the destruction of 57 vials containing approximately 570 doses of the new Coronavirus vaccine.”
Grafton police were called to Advocate Aurora Health Hospital in Grafton on Dec. 30 after a report that a former pharmacy employee had deliberately removed the vaccines from refrigerated storage and left them overnight, resulting in approximately 570 doses of The vaccine was obtained “useless,” said health workers. Grafton police immediately began an investigation to determine a motive and possible criminal prosecution.
No charges had been filed since January 21, 2021. Aurora’s president says it was a “situation with a bad actor, not a bad trial.”
2. Aurora Health initially described the incident as an accident; Brandenburg holds a valid pharmacy license in the state of Wisconsin
State WI
According to records from the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services, Steven R. Brandenburg is a licensed pharmacist. His location is Saukville, Wisconsin, and his ID is current. It was issued on August 22, 1997, and was listed as being good through May 31, 2022. It is listed as meeting all requirements and has no orders under its license.
According to police, the investigation showed that a former pharmacist, a resident of Grafton, “took the bottles out of the refrigerated storage with the knowledge that they would not be useful. Aurora’s preliminary investigation into the incident, initially reported in the news on Saturday, December 26, 2020, determined that the incident was an accident. “
GettyAn image shows vials with attached Covid-19 vaccine stickers and syringes with the logo of the US pharmaceutical company Pfizer, on November 17, 2020.
After receiving additional information, Aurora Health’s public security sector “began to delve deeper into the incident and found that the vials had been deliberately removed by the pharmacist. In a written statement to Aurora Health Public Safety Officials, the former employee admitted to deliberately disposing of the vaccine knowing that the vaccine would not be effective if not properly stored, ”said police.
3. Patients actually received the vials, but were not harmed, the release says; The pharmacist is in the middle of a divorce
Saul Loeb-Pool / Getty ImagesA model of COVID-19.
The release says Grafton police officers noted that the 57 doses of the vaccine were being distributed to patients, but according to Aurora health officials, they indicated that there are no health concerns related to the tainted doses. The doses are actually “useless”.
The value of the tainted doses was estimated to be between $ 8,000 and $ 11,000.
Police arrested the employee on the recommended charges of first-degree recklessness that endangered security (Class F felony), falsifying a prescription drug (Class H felony), and criminal property damage (Class I felony). However, all of these allegations are not in the prison records.
Aurora Health says it has managed more than 23,000 ‘team members’. The president of the company said in a virtual press conference that there is no evidence that the vaccines already administered made patients unsafe.
WISN-TV reported that its reporters were trying to talk to the Brandenburg ‘estranged woman’, but she declined to comment.
“(I’ve watched them) take him away with handcuffs. He was in the back of the squad, ”Darlene Scow, who lives on his street, told WISN. “My reaction is that I hope he will stay in place for a long time, because there are people who should have had those injections and what if they now get the virus? It’s terrible that someone does that on purpose, on purpose. “
Wisconsin court records show that the pharmacist’s wife is the petitioner in a pending divorce filed in June. According to the data, minor children are involved in the divorce. The parties “request to circumvent the mediation and appoint an ALV,” the documents say, referring to a Guardian Ad Litem, a lawyer representing the children, who was subsequently appointed. In November court records show that there was an urgent request from the Brandenburg lawyer against which the lawyer of Brandenburg’s estranged wife had objected. “Court orders suspension of placement because of COVID,” the data say, although they do not explain further.
In 2004, Brandenburg was the petitioner of a previous divorce.
4. Wisconsin had administered more than 47,000 vaccines, but that is only some of the vaccines assigned to the state
DHSWisconsin COVID-19 Vaccine Statistics.
As of December 29, according to the latest available statistics, the state of Wisconsin had received 265,575 COVID-19 vaccines from the federal government. Of those, 156,875 were dispatched and 47,157 managed, according to state statistics. The number of vaccines administered decreased over the Christmas week.
Wisconsin has seen a massive spike in COVID-19 cases, with more than 480,000 confirmed cases. More than 2.8 million people have been tested. Ninety-three percent of people have recovered and there are more than 28,000 active cases.
According to state statistics, 1% of people have died, or 4,859. More than 21,000 have ever been hospitalized. That is 4.4% of the total.
5. The motive is not clear, but officials claim that Brandenburg admitted that the vaccine was removed from the refrigerator
Scott Olson / Getty ImagesA nurse holds up a vial of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine.
The authorities have not revealed any motive for the alleged manipulation.
Dr. Jeffrey Bahr, president of Aurora Health, said in a virtual press conference, “On Saturday, December 26, in the early morning, one of our pharmacy technicians discovered what turned out to be 57 vials of Moderna vaccine, enough for about 570 doses outside. the refrigerator in which those bottles were kept. “
He said, “We are not in a position to make a judgment on the motive at this point,” and said the authorities responded in their investigation.
The vaccine bottles “were returned to the refrigerator” and the technician reported the incident. The pharmacist initially claimed it was an “accidental mistake”. They later determined that the vaccine “can still be administered” because it has a viability of 12 hours.
An internal evaluation was continued.
He added, “In the days that followed, as we continued our internal evaluation, we became increasingly suspicious of the person’s behavior. The person was suspended and admitted to deliberately removing the vaccine from the refrigerator yesterday after multiple interviews over the course of the week. “
The 57 vaccinations became less effective or ineffective. Those 57 people have been notified. “The vaccine program here remains safe and crucial to bailing us out of the pandemic,” said Bahr, indicating it was now a matter for law enforcement.
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